UK Minister offers public apology to the family of William Mc Greanery

Foyle MP Mark Durkan with members of the Mc Greanery family.
Foyle MP Mark Durkan with members of the Mc Greanery family.

 
The family of a 41-year-old man shot dead by a soldier in Derry has received an official appology from the UK government.
William McGreanery was walking past an Army observation post near the Bogside when he was shot in 1971.
They had previously received an apology from the defence forces, but last evening, a minister echoed that apology at Westminister.
At the time of the shooting, the British Army stated that William Mc Greanery had been holding a rifle and aiming at an army observation post when the soldier opened fire
In 2011, the Historical Enquiries Team found Mr McGreanery “as not carrying a firearm and he posed no threat. The Army’s Chief of the General Staff sent an official apology to the family.
Mr McGreanery’s nephew, Billy McGreanery, was present in Westminster yesterday for a debate on the case which was raised Foyle MP Mark Durkan.
Mr McGreanery said the family wanted a “full and proper public admission of his innocence”, adding that the apology to the family from the Ministry of Defence was made in private, and a public apology should be made.
That public apology was then given by the minister responding to Mr Durkan.
 
 

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